Laccase from the medicinal mushroom Agaricus blazei: production, purification and characterization.

The medicinal mushroom Agaricus blazei produced high amounts of laccase (up to 5,000 units l(-1)) in a complex, agitated liquid medium based on tomato juice, while only traces of the enzyme (<100 units l(-1)) were detected in synthetic glucose-based medium. Purification of the enzyme required three chromatographic steps, including anion and cation exchanging. A. blazei laccase was expressed as a single protein with a molecular mass of 66 kDa and an isoelectric point of 4.0. Spectroscopic analysis of the purified enzyme confirmed that it belongs to the "blue copper oxidases". The enzyme's pH optimum for 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (DMP) and syringaldazine was pH 5.5; but for 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylthiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) no distinct pH optimum was observed (highest activity at the lowest pH tested). Purified laccase was stable at 20 degrees C, pH 7.0 and pH 3.0, but rapidly lost its activity at 40 degrees C or pH 10. Sodium chloride strongly inhibited the enzyme activity, although the inhibition was completely reversible. The following kinetic constants were determined (K(m), k(cat)): 63 microM, 21 s(-1) for ABTS, 4 microM, 5 s(-1) for syringaldazine, 1,026 microM, 15 s(-1) for DMP and 4307 microM, 159 s(-1) for guaiacol. The results show that--in addition to the wood-colonizing white-rot fungi--the typical litter-decomposing basidiomycetes can also produce high titers of laccase in suitable liquid media.

Bullera hoabinhensis sp. nov., a new ballistoconidiogenous yeast isolated from a plant leaf collected in Vietnam.

VY-68, a ballistoconidiogenous yeast strain, isolated from a plant leaf at Cuc Phuong National Park of Ninh Binh Province, Vietnam, was assigned to the genus Bullera based on morphological and chemotaxonomical characteristics. Based on the sequence analyses of 18S rDNA, D1/D2 region of 26S rDNA, and internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS), VY-68 was phylogenetically closely related to Bullera pseudoalba and Cryptococcus cellulolyticus. DNA-DNA reassociation experiments among VY-68, B. pseudoalba and C. cellulolyticus revealed that strain VY-68 is a distinct species, and the latter two are conspecific. Bullera hoabinhensis is proposed for VY-68.

Four new species of Kockovaella isolated from plant leaves collected in Vietnam.

Five ballistoconidiogenous yeast strains, isolated from plant leaves at Cuc Phuong National Forest of Ninh Binh, Vietnam, were assigned to the genus Kockovaella based on morphological and chemotaxonomical characteristics. They represent four new species based on analyses of 18S rDNA sequence, sequences of internal transcribed spacer regions, and DNA-DNA reassociation experiments. Four new species, Kockovaella calophylli (1 strain), Kockovaella cucphuongensis (2 strains), Kockovaella litseae (1 strain), and Kockovaella vietnamensis (1 strain) are proposed for these strains.